Crossing-signal for railroads.



K. B. COLEMAN.

CROSSING SIGNAL FOR- RAILROADS.

APPLICATION FILED szrnzz. 1915.

Patented Oct. 2, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

J2EE Co/e mow K. B. COLEMAN.

CROSSING SIGNAL FOR RAILROADS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPTJZ. I915.

1,241,608. Patented Oct. 2,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

meme 3.; ommas,

I To all; whom ittmay concern;

A B9; it; known j that I, Krsrnn B..CVOLEM.AN-, a citizen of the'United States,residing at. Scottsblal'gnin theficounty of- Halifaxand State, of .Virginia,, have invented. certa n. new. and i useful improvements Cross ng- Siignals for Railroads and I do hereby do- I elarei the. following tobe a. full, clear,

exact. 1 description of-the invention, such) as will enable others skilled 1n the art to which.

it 'appertains to make and-use-the; same. inyentjion relatesito. new anduse'ful i improvements;, in.- track instruments for operating. crossingsignals; for railroads and has; for one {of its. objects the PBOlVlSlOIL of; a

device. Oiil. thiseharacter, which shall be simplaqdigmablez and. efficient n dl may, beirnanuzfiactuned andsolcl at a. coma paratively small. cost...

. Another object. or this reveal-a1 as [provide aleverapi votedi toithe rail of? avraile Arfurther road track andfiseadaptedt to be engaged by a: train for:;closing= an. electric amount to: l a

objector ,thi svinyention an bylsaid lever% to =closean electric circuit, and

1 which will remain in a circuit closingvposie tiom iunden the'. influence: of electnoemagnets.

\With these and: other' objjects. in; view; the

f'inv'entilorfconsistsa thefxnouel combination and arrangement of parts whlclr Wlililbfl fully set forth in the following specification and 1 accompanying drawingsgdm wihich zfv Figure 1 is a plan view of a railroad tracker showing the crossings signal applied thereto, said signal and operating medias: nism thereof being in diagram.

Fig. 2 isan enlarged view showing the controlling switch.

Fig. 3 is a Vertical sectional View on line 33 of Fig. 2, on an enlarged scale, and 1 Fig. 4. is a detail perspective view of the cut-out switch. a

Referring now to the drawings" by characters of reference, the numeral 1 designates a railroad rail of the ordinary conv strnction', havingsecured to the base there- 'of'in any suitable manner a bearlng block as at 3,1the lever4, the upper end of which .is provi'dedwith the roller 5 and the lower 2; Thisbe'aring block has pivoted thereto end ofsaid lever is provided with an arm 6'. This lever 4 is designedto control the operation of the circuit closer which will gTATEQPATENT OFFICE.

or scorrsnune, VIRGINIA, nssrenon or ONE-HALF T0 JAMES E. ennnn, an, or cnovnn, VIRGINIA.

cnossms srennri on nArLRoAns.

Speeification of Letters Patent. p t nt o 2,1917q Application filed september 22,1915. SerialNo.52,O84.

be more, fully hereinafter described, when the wheel of the train passing, over the a. resilienton spring metal and this strip of metal is providedwith av horizontal arm 10,- the forwardxendof which is provided with the contact plate It, The arm 10. is. preferably ofa relatively soft. iron or similar material which may beheasily attracted by a' mag'net and supported immediately be proximity tothe arma'as clearly shown in Fig.2. A suitablestationary contact 14 is supponteet on an. insulating block 15 and is positioned so that its upper'end-will beengagedr by the contact plate 1 1 hereinbefore referred: to.' Leading from one of the magnets 12 is a. wire 16; and leading from the contact postl is a wire 17 and: these wires leadsflto the'signalaand battery associatedtherewith. mThe: wire 1 6 above referred -to is connected to a suitable wire 18 which cooperatesnv ith the wire l9 -in furnishing power a): the light 20 and this wire 19 is connected by means of the wire 21 to the wire 22, which cooperates with the parallel wire 23 in furnishing power to the light 24. These lights 20 and 24.- are positioned at opposite sides of a roadway so that when a train" approaches, the same will be illuminated, thereby signaling any person traveling along the roadway of the danger. The wire23 is connected by means of a suitable wire 25 to a circuit breaker which will be more fully hereinafter described.

' The circuit breaker above referred to comprises a lever 26, which is pivoted as at 27 to a suitable plate 28 secured to the under side of the rail and this lever 26 is provided neathrthe arnr are the clectr0 magnets 12", the coresz13- of which extend into closewith the forward and downward extension ment is arranged to engage the contact arm 31 mounted on the standard 32 and the pivot point 27 of the lever 26 is connected to the wire 25, hereinbefore referred to; EX4 tending outwardly from the base of the rail is a suitable plate 33 'for the support of the compression coil spring 3a, which bears against the underside of the lever 26 and forces the contact element 30 into engagement with the contact arm 31 so that the circuit under normal circumstances is completed through this device. A wire leading from the standard 32 is connected to a suitable power source 36, the opposite terminal of which is connected to the wire 17 hereinbefore referred to.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that in use as the train passes over the circuit closing mechanism it will rock the arm or lever 4, thus moving the arm 6 downwardly against the tension of the spring 7 so as to force the armlO downwardly and cause the contact to be'made between the plate 11 and the standard 14. The passage of the current from the battery 36 to the wire 17 to the standard 14 and thence through the contact 11 and arm' 10 to the strip 9, and back through the wires leading through the magnet to the wire 16iwill hold the arm 10 in such a position as to keep the circuit completed even though the pressure on the wheel 5 may be released. The circuit is maintained through'the magnet and thus through the lights 20 and 24 until the flange of the car wheel passing over the rail engages the lever 26 of the circuit breaker thereby breaking the circuit between the contact point 30 and the arm 31. The lever 26 is of such a length as to hold the circuit discontinued for a sufficient length'of time to permit the resilience of the arm 10 to move said arm upwardly and thereby break the circuit between the contact point 11 and the standard 14. After the train has passed ,over the lever 26, it will be seen'that the same will return to its normal upward position through the action of the spring 34 and "the device will again be set ready for a second operation. In order to use this device in connectlon with trains traveling 1n opposite directions, it will be seen that the two.

devices are necessary and may be connected as shown in Fig. 1 so as to light both sets of lights from either of the circuits. In this way, it will be seen that the necessity'ofproviding a separate set of lights is unnecessary. W

While in the foregoing there has been being adapted to be engaged by a train when passing over the rail, an arm on the underside of the lever, and a spring normally holding the arm in a substantially horizontal position, of an L-shaped contact arm, adapted to be engaged by the end of the arm on the lever, a contactfor engagement by the contact arm, an electric circuit closed by said contact arm and magnets in'series in said circuit and positioned beneath said contact arm whereby when the arm is initially moved toclose the circuit the magnetwillbe energized to hold said arm in circuit closing posltion.

'In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of'two witnesses. I

KYSTER B. COLEMAN. Witnesses: 1 1 1 J. T. LACY, L. G. "WALDEN.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained. for five cents each, lay-addressing the commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. i 

